


Counting Miles, Counting Minutes

by princemito



Series: Seattle AU [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gay crisis, Language, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Marijuana, Mutliple POV, Mutual Pining, Seattle AU, boner mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 22:15:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6677485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princemito/pseuds/princemito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryuu tried to forget his New Year's kiss, but he just keeps thinking about it. It takes him a few months to realize the very real possibility that he might be gay for Chikara Ennoshita. Chikara, meanwhile, was content being friends, despite his feelings, but when he's offered a job on the other side of the country, he's not sure what to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Counting Miles, Counting Minutes

**Author's Note:**

> I feel guilty for not updating my other Seattle AU fics, but I've been thinking about this one for a while, and I'm super pumped to get it started. :D Thanks everyone for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> This fic refers to specific events in Two Birthdays and a New Year, as well as vague mentions of other things established in other Seattle AU fics.
> 
> If you see any typos, please let me know! :D

April had been unusually hot. It was like summer had grown impatient and shoved spring out of the way. Even for summer, it was on the hot side. Where was this death weather coming from? Ryuu rarely regretted living in Seattle, but it was during times like these when he was reminded that people in the Pacific Northwest didn’t believe in air conditioning, and that was when he would begin to question his life choices.

He hated sleeping with his windows open, but he was forced to do it, he had no other choice. The noises from outside bothered him, and if his roommate moving around didn’t wake him up in the morning, the damn birds did. And with all the trees in the yard, there were a lot of birds. So many birds. All the pillows shoved up against his head couldn’t keep the tweeting out of his ears. 

With a groan, Ryuunosuke Tanaka accepted his fate as one of the living and rolled out of bed. He wasn’t surprised to bump into Noya in the hallway.

“Ryuu! You’re up early!” his roommate chirped and Ryuu wanted to strangle him just as much as he did the birds. He was already dressed and had probably been up for hours, Ryuu figured as he glared down at him with tired eyes before stumbling past him to the bathroom. “Good morning to you, too, sunshine!” Noya called to the closed door.

Ryuu grumbled his way through his morning routine and stifled yet another yawn as he exited the bathroom and headed for the kitchen. Their apartment was small, set up in the basement of his parents’ house with everything they needed. It was small enough that if both of them were home it was almost too cramped and there was no way of avoiding the other. Noya wandered into the kitchen behind him, seeming aimless.

“Working early today, bro?” he asked.

“Nah, usual time,” Ryuu answered, pulling out a box of cereal. He looked at the dishes in the sink and on every counter, his eyes flicking briefly to the cabinet that sometimes held bowls when they weren’t all dirty. 

“I didn’t wake you up, did I?” Noya frowned. “Here,” he added, handing Ryuu a spoon.

Ryuu wasn’t sure where he produced the spoon from but he didn’t really care. He took it and stuck it in the opened box, moving the cereal to his mouth. “Nah,” he said as he chewed, leaning on the counter. “It was those damn birds.”

Noya opened the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of milk with a thoughtful hum. “Yeah, they’ve been extra shitty lately,” he said as he handed Ryuu the milk.

He uncapped it and took a swig right from the carton, washing down the dry cereal with a sigh. He took another bite followed by another gulp of milk, then repeated the process once more as Noya watched him silently. “What?” he finally asked, wiping a bit of milk from his lip.

“Is there something else going on with you?” Noya asked.

“What?” He lowered the box of cereal and looked at Noya, unsure of where the question came from.

Noya shrugged and leaned against the fridge with his arms crossed. “I dunno, man,” he said. “I just feel like I haven’t seen you much lately, y’know? Like even when you’re actually home you seem like you’re off in Ryuuland or something.”

He chewed on the spoon as he thought about it. He wasn’t purposefully avoiding Noya, of course. And it wasn’t like he was meaning to be more introspective lately, it was just sort of happening whether he wanted it to or not. Admittedly, he had been thinking a lot, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to talk about it or not.

Noya continued talking. “And I mean, like, you’ve been hanging out with Ennoshita a lot, which is fine,” he added the last bit quickly. “I’m not, like, jealous or anything. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Asahi, and so, like, I’m glad you’re not lonely or whatever, but it just seems like when we are hangin’ and stuff you’re just not really there. Or something,” he finished dumbly. 

Ryuu smirked. “You’re worried about me,” he stated. “That’s adorable.”

“Ryuu…!” Noya began to protest.

Ryuu crossed the small kitchen and threw an arm around Noya’s shoulder. “Bro, I’m fine,” he said, waving the cereal box as some sort of emphasis. “Are you doing anything tonight? We can have some serious brotime and I promise not to be distracted.”

Noya jabbed him in the side, causing him to spill some cereal on the floor. “Yeah,” he said with a grin. “I’ve got nothing after class and I wasn’t planning on seeing Asahi today, so yeah.”

“Sweet!” he said, kicking the cereal to one side. “I haven’t kicked your ass in Mario Kart for a while.” 

Noya stuck out his tongue as he left the kitchen. “Yeah and that’s not gonna change tonight!” he said, grabbing his bag. “Gotta run,” he added. “I was gonna say see ya when you get home, but let’s be real, I’ll probably see you at work.”

Ryuu stood in the doorway to the kitchen as he watched his roommate leave, returning most of his attention to his cereal. “It’ll be the highlight of my day,” he said through the mouthful.

Noya gave him one final grin then closed the door.

Alone in the apartment, he could hear the birds again. Those damn birds.

He took the cereal and the entire carton of milk back to his room and dropped himself down on the edge of his bed, taking a half-hearted swig of milk, and followed that with a tired sigh. He had honestly been planning on going over to Chikara’s after work, but he owed his best friend an evening.

His phone was sitting on his bedside table, the screen dark. It was probably too early for Chikara to be up, especially considering how late their texting conversation had gone on for the night before. He set the cereal box down and picked up the phone anyway and sent him a text.

> damn birds woke me up

> i hate spring

He laid back on his bed, feet still on the floor, his phone falling from his hand and onto the pile of pillows he slept with. He hadn’t expected to get so close to Chikara, that he would become the person that Ryuu wanted to text first thing in the morning, even after staying up texting half the night. He didn’t think that he would ever feel so attached to someone he’d only met less than four months earlier; he definitely couldn’t believe that he had neglected his best friend in favor of someone else, and he was beginning to question what exactly it meant.

He had met Chikara Ennoshita a bit by chance in a scenario fueled by a chain of friends and acquaintances. If it hadn’t been for Noya dating Asahi, and Asahi being friends with Daichi, and Daichi living in a house with a whole bunch of other guys that just so happened to also include Chikara, they never would have met. And Ryuu’s life would have continued on as it had. He liked his job, he had a great relationship with his parents, his best friend was awesome; he had been content. Not that he was complaining about the recent developments, they were just unexpected.

\--

It was warm even in the shade of Chikara’s backyard. Ryuu relaxed shirtless in one of the lawn chairs as Chikara packed them a bowl. It was a pretty regular thing, though the shirtlessness was a new development with the warmer weather. Chikara was too modest for that, and Ryuu liked that about him. Ryuu had to admit that there were a lot of things he liked about him: his lazy smile, his deep insights on life that he only shared when he was high—and his frank observations when he wasn’t—how passionate he could be about certain things.

Ryuu thought back to New Year’s, the day they met, as he watched Chikara raise the bong to his mouth. He inhaled, the water bubbling and the chamber filling with swirls of smoke before he pulled out the bowl and let it fill his lungs. He held it in, Ryuu watching him, watching his lips, and set the bong down in the grass instead of passing it over. He leaned toward Ryuu and cupped his chin in a hand, Ryuu’s eyes not leaving his lips even as he leaned in and pressed their lips together. Ryuu inhaled the smoke that Chikara shotgunned down his throat. Chikara didn’t pull away and Ryuu kept the smoke in his lungs until they burned and he exhaled through his nose as his own hands found the sides of Chikara’s face and held him there, lips locked in a cloud of smoke and bliss.

\--

Ryuu woke up to his phone vibrating on the pillow right next to his head. He didn’t even remember getting fully back onto his bed, but he was thankful he hadn’t dozed off with his feet still hanging off. He shifted to get at his phone and was surprised by the hard-on he was sporting. He stared down at his own crotch for a moment and let out a noise of distraught confusion.

>> I can relate to being woken up by annoying things

“Fuck,” Ryuu breathed, running a hand over his face and sitting up. Because of how much time they had been spending together, he dreamed about Chikara a lot, but never like that, and they were definitely never followed by a boner. He stared at the text and could just imagine the little smirk on Chikara’s face.

> jerk

He looked at the time and realized he had only been asleep for maybe twenty minutes. The dream seemed like it lasted so much longer and he could still feel the warmth of Chikara’s lips on his own. He licked the sudden dryness away, a weak attempt to remove the phantom feeling, and rolled himself out of bed. A shower was starting to sound pretty nice. A nice, long, hot shower.

\--

It wasn’t until Ryuu was nearly to work that Chikara texted him again.

>> Are we still on for tonight?

Ryuu frowned as he tapped out his reply.

> sorry man i gotta cancel

> roommate bonding nite

>> Guess itll just be me and Hitchcock tonight…

Ryuu let out an audible groan as he pulled the door open and walked inside the Starbucks where he worked. He had been waiting for Chikara to pull out his bong (named after Alfred Hitchcock, of course) and maybe that was why he had dreamed about it, though that didn’t explain the other part, but Ryuu was trying not to think about that. As he walked toward the back room he was distraught at the idea that he might miss out on it, and there was no way of knowing when Chikara would get it out again.

> why tonite???

>> Because why not?

> uuugh chikara ur killin me

> i cant ditch noya tonite

> i owe him

>> Because youre spending too much time with me?

Leave it to Chikara to be blunt as fuck.

> ye sorta

> anyway i gotta work

> ill text u later

>> Okay.

Ryuu tucked his phone away with a sigh and washed his hands. It was going to be a long shift.

\----

That was fair. That was _totally_ fair. Noya was his roommate and his best friend and it would be selfish for Chikara to keep Tanaka from him. And maybe he liked being selfish and he liked seeing Tanaka all the time. He liked Tanaka’s company. He felt comfortable with him, even after that awkward first night. But that was the thing: it wasn’t awkward. It should have been awkward, but it wasn’t. There he had been, Chikara Ennoshita, a recent University of Washington graduate, and there Tanaka had been, just some guy at a party, both of them alone on New Year’s. Kissing him had seemed like a good idea at the time, and he wasn’t about to say he regretted it, because for what it was, it wasn’t bad. And Tanaka seemed to have forgotten about it. They never talked about it, even though they had taken to teasing the other over other stupid things. It was the sort of thing that he should have been teased about. Hell, he had even expected to be teased about it. But Tanaka said nothing. And he guessed that was okay. He liked hanging out with Tanaka, smoking with Tanaka, talking with Tanaka. It was all so easy and there weren’t any complications. Except that kiss. But Tanaka seemed to have forgotten about it, so was it a complication? It crossed Chikara’s mind often enough that it was a distraction, at least. He should probably just forget it, too. But he didn’t really want to, even if it was a distraction. Or a complication. Or whatever. He liked Tanaka, and he liked that he had kissed him, and even if it was on a whim and didn’t really mean anything at the time, it had become something that he cherished.

He didn’t have anything to do that day so he was a little bitter that he was awake, but he knew he wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep. He hit the Home button on his phone, exiting out of the messaging app. All of his social media apps had angry red notification bubbles in the double digits, and he proceeded to ignore them like he had for weeks.

The house was warm since no one wanted to turn on the air conditioning, and he frankly wasn’t even sure if it worked. He didn’t realized quite how warm he was until he threw his cover off and his body could breathe again. He reached over and switched on the small fan on his bedside table. The warmth was so suddenly overwhelming that he didn’t even want to think about smoking, even though that seemed to be all he did anymore and all he had been planning to do that day. Maybe a cool shower would help.

As he threw his legs out of bed his phone buzzed with an email notification. His email was the only thing he had been checking regularly and he rushed to open it.

It was a response to one of the many emails he had sent out to various studios all over the country. He had heard back from a couple, mostly negative, and he honestly wasn’t expecting much from this one.

“Mr. Ennoshita,” the email began. “Thank you for the interest you have shown in our studio.” That was how most of them began, and he almost stopped reading right there. “We have reviewed your portfolio,” it continued. Most places didn’t even do that much, but he wouldn’t let himself get his hopes up. “And we would like to invite you to meet our staff in person.” His heart skipped in his chest. He had finally hooked something. He finally had a chance. The email continued, “We understand that it would be quite the distance for you to travel.” He stared at the studio’s logo at the top of the email, trying to remember where this one was. He hadn’t given location much thought and just wanted to work somewhere. He scrolled down for the company’s address. New York. He could do New York. He scrolled up and kept reading. “However, since we are a small independent studio, we will not be able to cover your travel expenses.” His heart sunk. He wasn’t exactly made of money. “If you are interested,” it continued, “we would love to set you up with one of our staff members who would be more than happy to house you during your stay. We would love to meet with you as soon as is convenient for you. We look forward to meeting with such a creative mind such as yours. Regards.”

As soon as he finished reading it, he opened up a reply email and was ready to accept. He stopped himself, though, hands shaking. He wanted to accept it, but he had to think about it first. He had to think about when he would be able to go—not that he was busy. And there were implications to moving across the country—not that he had a whole lot of stuff.

And then there was also Tanaka to consider.

He dropped his phone onto the bed and leaned his head into his hands with a sigh. They were just friends, and friends move away all the time. It wasn’t that big of a deal. But if he moved away, then he’d never get a chance to kiss him again…

But what was he thinking? Tanaka didn’t like guys. It wasn’t like sticking around was going to change anything. And maybe moving away would help him move on. Maybe.

Either way, he had to talk to Tanaka before making a decision. Plus he would have to look into flights and see when it would be cheapest to go. He had to let his parents know, and probably tell his roommates so they could start looking for his replacement. There were a lot of things to think about before jumping into things.

But first, he could use a smoke.

\----

Ryuu and Noya rode the bus home together after Ryuu’s shift finished. Noya was as animated as usual, and Ryuu could hardly keep up. He had been a distracted mess during his entire shift, but if Noya had noticed his silence, he ignored it.

At least, he did until they got home. As soon as Noya closed the door and dropped his bag he turned to Ryuu, his face serious. “What the hell is up with you, man?” he demanded.

Ryuu stared at him for a moment before giving a shrug, walking past him to flop down on the couch. “I dunno what you’re talking about,” he said.

“You hardly said two words on the way home. I made some _quality_ observations and I’m devastated that you were not impressed by them!” He sat down on the edge of the coffee table, staring Ryuu right in the face. “Where the fuck have you been?”

Ryuu sighed and couldn’t look Noya in the eye. “I dunno,” he said. “Just thinking a lot, I guess.”

Noya flicked the side of his head. “Well, what’re you thinking about?”

He chewed his lip slightly. There were a lot of things he was trying to figure out, and he had been hell-bent on doing it by himself.

“Listen, Ryuu, buddy, bro,” Noya said, leaning back with his hands on his knees. “You’ve been weird for weeks, and I’ve been waiting for you to open up to me, but I can’t fucking take this anymore. I know there’s something going on in that head of yours, and I want to help. Just tell me what you’re thinking about.”

Ryuu took a deep breath in preparation. “Chikara,” he said, the name coming out as he exhaled. “I’ve been thinking about Chikara.”

“Okay?” Noya didn’t seem to find this weird at all.

“Like, a lot,” Ryuu added.

“I mean, you’ve been spending lots of time with him.”

“He kissed me, bro,” Ryuu said. He had thought that maybe if he never tell Noya, it would be like it never happened. He didn’t mind that it happened, but it was apparently destroying him psychologically.

“He did _what_?” Noya asked, leaning forward and grabbing his friend by the shoulders. “When?”

“New Year’s. He kissed me at midnight.”

“Ryuu what the _shit_!” It was more of an exclamation than a question, punctuated by aggressive shaking. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me? Shit, man!”

Ryuu shrugged. “I dunno. It didn’t mean anything. I mean, we were both by ourselves, and it was chill, I guess. And, like, I told him I wasn’t gay, and it was fine, and we were fine, and everything was _fine_.”

“Then what is your problem?” Noya demanded, shaking him again.

Ryuu hesitated and buried his face in his hands. “Yuu…” he breathed into his palms. “I think… Shit.” He sat up and Noya’s hands fell away from his shoulders. He slapped himself on both cheeks and looked Noya in the eye. He inhaled deeply, deeper than the last time, and said, “I think I’m gay for Chikara.”


End file.
